REVIEWS & PRESS

Press coverage and reviews in print, digital and broadcast

“Three weeks later, I can’t quite believe I have managed to keep my tech use under control… already I feel more connected and present during chats or out with friends. I find I’m craving more of this: novel, real-life conversation.”

“Do people have meltdowns on retreats such as these? No, says Tanya, but some book then cancel at the last minute because they just can’t bear to be without their mobiles.They’re missing out. Because it’s blissfully restful. On our last night, we congregate around a giant bonfire and chat in the warm glow.”

“Over the course of the week, I found myself connecting much more deeply with the people around me. Without distractions, our conversations were much richer and more interesting, and I felt far more connected than I usually do in my super-connected digital world.”

“When the retreat was over, I felt cleansed… I hadn’t checked the news but I didn’t fear that the world had fallen apart. I felt recharged, not anxious about the work I’d missed. Just before I left for the airport, Goodin handed me back my phone. For a second, I was tempted to tell her to keep it.”

“Stressed smartphone addicts can now go on rural retreats with no access to gadgets. Tanya Goodin, a former digital marketer, set up Time To Log Off when she realised that she had not read a book for four years, instead frittering away her time on her devices. She says her concentration span had been shot to pieces by digital technology.”

“I say things about myself that surprise me as I say them. Small talk becomes big talk and silences become longer, more comfortable. It occurs to me how frantic technology makes me, how my conversations at home have started to sound more like glib Twitter back-and-forths.”

“Given UK adults spend an average of at least eight hours a day on screens, founder Tanya Goodin consulted addiction specialists to devise a regime to wean us of our modern-day tech obsession. The week starts with a ‘handing-in’ of e-devices before a daily programme of walking, veggie food and general silent reflection.”

“Led by digital entrepreneur, neuro-linguistic programming master practitioner and advocate of mindfulness Tanya Goodin, this seven-night retreat for stressed-out people takes just 10 guests at a private 18th-century farmhouse in Puglia, southern Italy, with a swimming pool and 20 pretty acres to explore.”